Team:Edinburgh

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iGEM PROJECT "TNT/RDX DETECTOR AND BIOREMEDIATOR" [Captain Planet, he's our hero!]

During our brainstorming we discussed a variety of topics which we found stimulating and interesting. Topics ranged from employing bacteria to desalinate water, to destroying deadly algal blooms, and making a synthetic vesicle construct. The latter would enable direct targeting of substances to specific tissues; something that could hopefully bring researchers a step closer to discovering a less invasive cure for diseases such as cancer and HIV.

All these ideas are very exciting and compelling, and even though they were so diverse they had something in common. If successful, they could change the public perception of Synthetic Biology from being a frivolous endeavour by mad scientists, to a discipline with real life applications.

A global initiative to develop Synthetic Biology for practical uses can greatly improve the quality of life of people not only directly, but also indirectly through improving the environment we live in.

Something else that these projects had in common was that we could not actually work on them. Reasons ranging from the lack of necessary equipment, a permit to work with mammalian cells, or modelling proved that the project was not industrially and economically feasible.

Finally, we arrived at the ideal project! It was both feasible, within the time-scale of iGEM, and exciting! As ambitious as it may sound, we are going to engineer Escherichia coli that can detect landmines efficiently and safely by eliminating the risk of injury to military personnel and civilians alike. The bacteria will detect both TNT and nitrites (a by-product of explosive degradation), and produce different light outputs, depending on the stimulus. For more detailed information on our project please check this link.

PROJECT RELATED SECTIONS

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